Shawn Hartnell is working the oil patch in Egypt

By Ken Johnston
Editor

Many people from this area have gone to work in the oil patch. However, one Rainy River man, Shawn Hartnell has gone much farther than Alberta to do just that... he is working in Egypt!
Hartnell, 25, left Rainy River after high school and headed west in search of work. His first plan was to go to British Columbia and work at a ski resort but stopped in Red Deer, Alberta to visit his cousin Fred. He ended up spending his money and was determined to prove he could make it on his own. So he started working at a pork pitching plant. Some of his buddies there told him about job prospects on the oil rigs. Shawn went and checked it out and with his family logging background they hired him on the spot. He learned his trade well out west working his way up the ladder for six years.
Then he learned of a few of his coworkers going overseas to do the job. Last year he followed their lead and started working for CUDD, a company based in Houma, Louisiana with operations all over the world. “It has been a dream of mine since I started out west to work overseas doing this.”
Shawn’s title is International Snubbing Specialist Operator. He is working on an offshore oil platform in the Red Sea near Hurghada, Egypt. “We fly out there and back on helicopters every day.”
He has six crew members working under him and their primary job is to get newly tapped wells producing oil or natural gas to acceptable production levels. They also do “work overs” that involve getting existing wells that have seen production levels drop back up to good levels.
He noted that it sounds easy enough but is very dangerous. “It is like poking a stick at Mother Nature and we are working with tremendous pressure in the ground.”
In Canada’s oil patch he said the pressures in the ground are around 1,000-1,500 p.s.i. “In Egypt it is closer to 15,000 p.s.i. Don’t get me wrong, 100 p.s.i. can kill you just the same as 15,000 can. It is a dangerous job.” His crew sends a gun like machine down the well and fires about 100 bullets into it to get the oil or gas flowing. “There is a lot of trial and error and a lot of pressure in those holes.”
Shawn said that the safety standards are much more strict in Canada which in turn makes his job in Egypt more dangerous. For instance they have to be wary of H2S (one part hydrogen, two parts sulfate) gas. “You can only smell it up to 10 pts. per million and it can kill you. However, in Canada they have (H2S) detectors everywhere... there is only one on the platform there (Egypt).
He said there is also a problem with pirates in the Red Sea. “They have kidnapped expats for ransom.”
So why does he do this job, which as been ranked as one of the top five most dangerous in the world? He says he loves it. “I like to cowboy it a bit and the less stricter rules let me do that.” He also enjoys the fact that he works a month on and then gets to fly home for a month. “Out west I was lucky to get three or four days off here and there.”
“I just love being on the rig and this job in Egypt is way better than out west.” He did say that if he gets tired of it he can move to one of many other locations run by CUDD. “If I did move I would like to try working in Malaysia.” They also have operations starting up in New Zealand but Hartnell said there are too many safety regulations there for his liking.
He is home right now because he had his finger crushed on the job, but that has not phased him. “I am ready to go back as soon as I can.”
He did say his family worries about him, but for the most part they are proud of him over there. He has mostly been working over there but has taken some time to ride camels and hopes that some time this year rather than coming home to Rainy River he and a buddy will rent an apartment and stay and have fun in Egypt!